stanton



Jan. 27,1948.

W. F. STANTON FUEL MIXTURE CQNTROL Original Filed Jan. 20, 1933 FIG.I.

TO ACCELER- ATDR PEIJHL Y INVENTOR WARREN F. STANTON GLADYS PERRY STANTON ADMINISTRATRIX ATTORNEY Reissued Jan. 27, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FUEL MIXTURE CONTROL Warren F. Stanton, deceased, late of Pawtucket, R. 1., by Gladys Perry Stanton, administratrix, Pawtucket, R. 1.; said Warren F. Stanton assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Car and Foundry Investment Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Original No. 2,408,104, dated September 24, 1946, Y

Serial No. 652,731, January 20, 1933. Application for reissue April 16, 1947, Serial No. 741,833

33 Claims. (Cl. 123-119) for providing throttle opening while starting, or-

when the engine starts to stall. The arrangement was such that immediately the diaphragm starts to move under suction, the choke valve opens and the throttle starts to close.

It has been found extremely desirable, especially with a choke valve ofiset so as to tend to open by suction, and when starting a cold en- 'gine. to allow a slight flutter of the choke valve while cranking, that is to say, a slight opening of the .valve on the suction stroke followed by closing of the valve on the compression stroke,

thus admitting the slight amount of air necessary to provide a firing mixture, and doing away with the necessity of providing a bleeder or auxiliary air valve. This fiutter should take place without corresponding opening and closing of the throttle valve. It has been found desirable to make a sharp distinction between the amount which the choke valve 'open under the cranking vacuum, and the amount which it opens under the firingvacuum. In the present invention means are provided for procuring the desired flutter without disturbing the throttle opening, and for sharply defining the amount of choke opening under cranking vacuum.

It has been found desirable a connection between the diaphragm and the choke valve which is yielding for a portion of its action and positive through the remainder. This allows the thermostat, when in its cold position, to exert still more resistance to the opening of the choke valve and thu provide a richer mixture when the engine is cold. This also permits the use of a lower powered, and hence cheaper, thermostat to give the desired control. If a high powered thermostat is used, it may be sufilciently strong to prevent the desired choke valve flutter when the engine is cold. Yielding means is provided her through jets in the ordinary manner.

2 Y the features or the devices before mentioned and hereinafter to be described, but the invention is to be understood as consisting in whatever is described by or is included within the terms or scope or legal meaning of the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing which for the purpose of clarity of illustration is somewhat diagrammatical;

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the carbureter portion of an internal combustion engine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the choke lever, diaphragm rod and thermostat lever of a difl'erent construction from what is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail view, in horizontal section, on the line 3-3, Fig. 1. e

The invention is illustrated as applied to a. carbureter III, of the so-called down-draft"- type.

and which is bolted to the intake manifold II,

from which the mixture flows to the engine. Air enters the carbureter through port I2, the amount of air supplied being controlled by the choke valve I3, which is shown of the balanced butterfly type. It may, however, be of any type.

The supply of mixture from the carbureter to the engine is controlled by the throttle valve I 4, which is manually operated in the usual manner. Fuel is fed to the carbureter from a float cham- As the method of feeding fuel forms no part of the invention, the fioat chamber and Jets are not illustrated.

The choke valve I3 is fastened to a shaft I5 to the squared end of which is fastened the choke lever I6.- The valve is normally held closed by coil spring I1, one end of which i fastened to lever I6, and the other end to the carbureter body. Choke valve I3 is opened by, and according to the degree of engine suction, by motion of an engine vacuum actuated diaphragm I8,

transmitted by diaphragm rod I9, to a pin 20,

fixed on lever I6. The diaphragm is held on rod I9 by flanges 2I and 22, nut 23 and collar 24, the latter serving as a limit stop by abutting the adjacent end wall 25, of the diaphragm chamber when the diaphragm is moved to that position by spring 26, when there is no engine vacuum, The diaphragm istightly clamped at its outer rim at a point between wall 25, and the opposite end wall 21, andthe space between the latter andthe diaphragm is connected by pipe 28, with the car- .bureter or intakemanifold on the engine side of the. throttle, so that the vacuum acting on diapliragm I8, is that existing in the intake manifo d.

A lever 23 is pivoted on stud 33, fast in body [3, and has an arm 3!, which encircles rod I9, which arm is held against stop pin 32, by spring 33.

The other arm 34, of lever 28, has a slip Joint conthrottle is free to open or close beyond thi position without affecting lever 29.

Rod 36, has slidably mounted upon it flanged sleeve 40, held by spring 4|, against the end of arm 42, of choke lever 15. spring 4i being of such length that with choke valve i3, closed and throttle l4, slightly opened, sleeve 43 will approximately touch arm 42. The length and strength of spring 4|, are varied to suit different carbureters. Throttle lever 35 is provided with the customary stop 43 and stop screw 44.

For controlling the position of choke valve l3, according to mixture temperature, a thermostat 45 is provided. which is preferably ofthe bi-metal coil spring type, although the invention is not limited to this type and which has been shown with the outer end 46, in intimate contact with the intake manifold casting so that the position of the thermostat arm. 41, reflects the temperature of the mixture. However, the thermostat can belocated at any desired place. The other inner end 48, of the thermostat coil is fastened to shaft 49, to which is fastened arm 41, and the thermostat coil is so arranged that heating it causes arm 41 to move in a clockwise direction. Thermostat 45 is preferably shrouded with a cover 50 which in this case has been designed to provide also a support for the shaft 49, and a means for clamping the thermostat to the intak manifold. Arm 41 is connected by rod 5|, and adjustable connection 52 with lever 53, pivoted on stud 54. A stop pin 55 limits movement of lever 53 in a counter-clockwise direction. A pin 56, on lever 53 coacts with jaw face 51 of lever l6, to provide a yielding stop against opening movement of choke valve l3, when the thermostat is cold, the position of pin 56, and hence the degree of resistance to opening, depending on the temperature of the thermostat, When the thermostat becomes hot, pin 55 coacts with jaw face 58, of lever l6, and forms a positive stop against the closing of choke valve I 3.

To allow more original opening of choke valve Hi, When arm 53 is in its cold position, a yielding connection may be provided between pin 56 and lever [6, as in Fig. 2, where spring 59 fastened to lever l6, gives a yielding connection with pin 56, for the first opening movement of lever l6, and by abutting against face 60, then gives a positive connection.

A positive connection may be used between rod l5, and lever l5, as shown in Fig. 2, where jaw to resist movement 01' rod I9.

further movement to the right of rod i5, moves lever 25 in counter-clockwise direction, and also brings spring 33 into combination with spring 25,

" by thermostat 45. ,As there is no vacuum in the manifold, rod 15 isheld by spring 26 in its extreme left position with collar 24 abutting against chamber wall 25, choke valve 13 is held shut, and spring 33 holds arms 3| against stop 32, and thus, by rod 35, collar 33, link 31 and connection 39, holds throttle l4 slightly open, all as illustrated in Fig. 1.

The engine is cranked, thus causing a low vacuum in the intake manifold and communicated through pipe 28, to the diaphragm chamber to actuate diaphragm i3. This low vacuum is enough .to overcome the resistance of spring 26, moving rod 19 to the right until lug 63 engages lever arm 3!, when movementof rod I9 stops, as the cranking vacuum is notenough to overcome the resistance of spring 33. This movement of rod l9 to the right tends through spring 82 and pin 20,,to move lever I6, counter-clockwise, thus opening the choke, and as there is a slight amount of play between pin 55 and jaw face 51, a slight opening is obtained before thermostatlever 53 begins to offer resistance. At cranking speed, the movement of diaphragm [8 will tend to be intermittent, due to the alternate suction and compression strokes of the engine pistons, hence choke valve 13 will have a slight flutter. When the engine is very cold the thermostat holds lever 53 hard against its stop pin 55, and pin 56 offers so much resistance to movement of lever I6, that spring 52 compresses, and the choke opens but slightly. If the engine is warmer, however, lever 53 offers less resistance to movement of arm l6, and spring 62 either does not compress at all, or but slightly, thus giving a greater choke opening for cranking when the engine is warm than when it is very cold. Thus, regulation is provided of the cranking opening of the choke valve by the degree of opposition between thermostat lever 53 and spring 62. A similar result is obtained, but in a different manner by what is shown in Fig. 2, Where rod 19 positively acts on lever l6 through lug 6| and pin 20. The amount of choke opening is thus dependent on the opposition between iever 53 and spring 59. In this case, the amount of movement of rod H to the right is dependent on the action of spring 59 and arm 53.

Immediately the engine starts firing, the firing vacuum (which is much greater than the starting vacuum) is enough to overcome the resistance of spring 33, and rod I9 moves still farther to the right, thus opening the choke still more, the amount of opening depending upon the degree of vacuum and the resistance which the thermostat offers through arm 53 and pin 56 to the movement of lever l6, this resistance being greater the colder the engine. If the engine is warm at starting, the thermostat offers but little resistance, and if his at its normal running temperature, the thermostat has rotated lever 53 sufficiently in clockwise direction that th choke valve is positively held wide open.

The overcoming of the resistance of spring 33 by movement of rod l9, farther to the right, by the firing vacuum causes lug 68, to rotate lever 2| counter-clockwise, thus allowing throttle ll to close toward its normal idling position, the

degree of closure depending on the temperature through the resistance offered by thermostat arm 58. Thus the idling speed with a cold engine will be greater than that with a warm or hot engine.

When the throttle is operated manually to vary the engine speed, opening the throttle causes the vacuum to drop. This allows the choke valve to close. which action may give too rich a mixture. However, as the throttle is opened, sleeve 40 is pushed by spring ll, against arm 42 on lever l6, tending to open the choke, thus overcoming the effect due to the vacuum drop. This opening being resisted by thermostat arm 53, it will be seen that a proper running mixture is attained through the cooperation of intake manifold pressure, engine temperature and throttle opening, and none of these elements can be left out of consideration and still have a proper mixture.

If the engine while idling either hot or cold tends to stall, the vacuum immediately drops to a degree where diaphragm I8 is unableto overcome the resistance of spring 33, which immediately rotates lever 29 clockwise, thus opening the throttle valve and preventing stalling.

The claims are:

1. Fuel control means for engines comprising a fuel conditioning device for delivering the conditioned fuel to the engine, two valves associated with said device in the line of flow of fuel-forming elements to and through said device, automatic valve-moving means subject to intake pressure at a point beyond said device for causing fuel conditioning movement of said valves, a yielding connection between such means and one of said valves to permit a lag in its initial movement, and temperature responsive means acting to mod fy the action of said valve-moving means.

2. Fuel control means as in claim 1 for an internalcombustion engine in which the conditioning device is a carbureter and the valves are, respectively, throttle and choke valves.

3. Fuel control means as in claim 1 for an internal combustion engin in which the conditioning device is a carbureter and the valves are respectively, throttle and choke valves, and having manual throttle-opening means and the degree of choke being aifected by opening the throttle thereby.

4. Fuel control means as in claim 1 for an internal combustion engine in which the conditioning device is a carbureter and the valves are, respectively, throttle and choke valves, and the throttle valve is-manually operable and an operative connection between throttle and choke valves.

5. Fuel control means as in claim 1 for an internal combustion engine in which the conditioning device is a carbureter and the valves are. respectively, throttle and choke valves, and the throttle valve is manually operable, and an operative connection between throttle and choke valves, said connection being yieldable in the direction to transmit motion from the throttle valve to the choke valve.

6. Fuel control means for internal combustion engines comprising a carbureter, a choke valve, 9. throttle valve, valve-moving means for bothvalves subject to intake manifold pressureand movable in one direction thereby, and a plurality of successively acting yieldable resistances to movement of said valve-moving means.

7. Fuel controlmeans for internal combustion engines comprising a carbureter, a choke valve, 9. throttle valve, valve-moving means sub- .1ect to intake manifold pressure and movable in one direction thereby, said movement first opening the choke valve and then closing the throttle valve while the opening of the choke valve continues.

8. Fuel control means as in claim '7 in which comparatively low resistance is opposed'to pug mary opening of the choke valve and a substan tially higher resistance is opposed to the closing of the throttle valve and further movement of the choke valve.

9. Fuel control means as in claim 6 having tem perature responsive means acting to modify action of the valve-moving means.

10. Fuel control means as in claim 6 having choke valve according to the vacuum in the respective cases, the opening being slight under cranking vacuum, the valve being free to flutter during cranking, a throttle valve, an operative connection between choke valve and the throttle valve that permits fluttering movement of the choke valve independently of the throttle valve, and an operative connection between said vacuum actuated means and the throttle valve.

12. In an internal combustion engine, a carbureter, a suction operable choke valve for said carbureter, means acting in addition to the suction applied directly to said choke and operated by said engine for controlling said choke valve, said operating means tending to close said choke valve when said engine is operating at 100 R. P. M. or less and said means tending to open said choke valve when said engine is operating at speeds substantially above 100 R. P. M., and temperature controlled means for limiting the movement of saidcontrol means.

13. Fuel control means for an internal combustion engine comprising a carbureter for delivering conditioned fuel to the engine, throttle and choke valves associated with said carbureter in the line of flow of fuel-forming elements to and through said carbureter, automatic valvemoving means subject to intake pressure at a point beyond said carbureter for causing fuel conditioning movement of said valves, a yielding connection between such means and one of said valves to permit a lag in the initial movement of said valve, and temperature responsive means acting to modify the action of the valve-' degree of choke being affected by opening the throttle thereby, automatic valve-moving means subject to intake pressure at a point beyond said carbureter for causing fuel conditioning moveaaoea ment oi said valves, a yielding connection between such means and one of said valves to permit a-lag in the initial movement of said valve, and temperature responsive means acting to modify the action of said valve-moving means.

15. Fuel control means for an internal combus-.

tion engine comprising a carburetor for delivering conditioned fuel to the engine, a choke valve and a manually operable throttle valve associated wlthsaid carburetor in the line of flow of fuelforming elements to and through said carbureter. an operative connection between the throttle and choke valves, automatic valve-moving means subject to intake pressure at a point beyond said carbureter 'for causing fuel conditioning movement of said valves, a yielding connection between such means and one of said valves, and temperature responsive means acting to modify the action of said valve-moving means.

16. Fuel control means for an internal combustion engine comprising a carburetor for delivering conditioned fuel to the engine, a choke valve and a manually operable throttle valve asconditioning movement 01 said valves, a yielding connection between such means and one of saidvalves, and temperature responsive means acting to modify the action of said valve-moving means.

1'7, In an internal combustion engine having an intake manifold, a carbureter, a choke valve, means for opening-said choke valve when the temperature is high, means for closing the. choke valve when the temperature is low, a suction actuating element responsive to pulsations of the motor being cranked when the choke valve is in position, resilient means connecting said suction responsive element to said choke valve for setting up a fluttering action during cranking, a throttle valve, means for holding said throttle valve in partial open position at low vacuum, and

means for varying the low vacuum position oi said throttle in accordance with temperature.

18. The substance of claim 1'? characterized in that the low vacuum position of the throttle is independent of the fluttering movement.

19. In a carburetor for attachment to an intake manifold of an internal combustion engine, a throttle valve, a choke valve, said choke valve having its position determined by the position of the throttleas the throttle valve is moved from its closed position, means for holding said throttle valve in partially opened position at low vacuum, and means for varying and maintaining said choke position dependent upon said throttle position as controlled by temperature and vacuum.

20. In an internal combustion engine having an intake manifold, a carbureter, a choke valve, means for opening said choke valve when the temperature is high, means for closing said choke valve when the temperature is low, a suction actuated element responsive to pulsations Of the motor being cranked with the choke valve in closed position, and resilient means connecting said suction responsive element to said choke means for opening said choke valve when the temperature is high, means for holding said choke valve in closed position when the temperature is low, a suction actuated element responsive to suction variations in said manifold, spring means for retaining said suction responsive element in its inoperative position, resilient means opposing said spring means, a resilient connection between said suction actuated element and said choke valve, said choke valve being fully responsive to said suction actuated member upon normal vacuum conditions when the temperature is high in the manifold and independent of said resilient connection, and means for opening said throttle beyond fast idle position for cold starting.

22. The substance of claim 21 characterized in that means are providedfor positively opening said choke valve upon a drop in manifold vacuum due to movement of said throttle to open position.

23. The substance of claim 21 characterized in that means are provided for opening the choke upon a drop in vacuum due to movement in said throttle to an open position, said choke position bein determined by temperature.

24. In a carbureter, a choke valve, a heat responsive device for controlling the choke valve, a suction responsive element operatively connected with said choke valve for'setting up a fluttering action when the motor is cranked with the choke valve in closed position, said fluttering action being independent of the action of the heat responsive device.

25. In a carbureter, a choke valve, a heat responsive device for controlling the choke valve, a suction responsive element resiliently connected with said choke valve for setting up a fluttering action when the motor is cranked with the choke valve in closed position, said fluttering action being independent of the action of the heat responsive device.

26. In a carbureter, a choke valve, a throttle valve, a heat responsive device for controlling the choke valve, an operative connection between the choke valve and the throttle valve, a heat re-" sponsive device for controlling the choke valve,

tially open position at low vacuum, and means controlled by temperature and vacuum for varying said choke position,.said vacuum controlled means being initially ineifective to operate said choke.

2 8. In a carburetor for attachment to an intake manifold 01' an internal combustion engine, a throttle valve, the position of which is controlled by temperature, a choke valve, the position of which is determined by the position of the throttle, means forholding said throttle valve in partially open position at low vacuum, and means controlled by temperature and vacuum for varying said choke position.

29. In an internal combustion engine, a choke valve movable towards open position by suction, a choke shaft for mounting said choke valve, and spring means for preventing initial opening movement of said choke valve by suction during cold starting, said spring means engaging a member fixed to said shaft.

30. In an internal combustion engine, an induction conduit, a chokevalve movable towards open position by suction means, and operating means between said choke valve and suction means including a clutch, said clutch being in operative during the initial movement of said suction means, v

31. The combination in an internal combustion engine carburetor having an air inlet and a mixture outlet controlled by a throttle valve: aohoke valve controlling the air inlet and openable by a differential of pressure on opposite sides thereof; means responsive to temperature and suction for controlling the choke valve; and yielding means adapted to urge the chok valve toward open position whenever said valve is at least partially closed, said yielding means being e'fiective when the throttle valve is open at least beyond the idling position.

10 32. In a carburetor for an internal combustion engine having an air inlet controlled by a slic tion responsive choke valve and a mixture outlet controlled by a throttle: temperature responsive means for closing the choke valve when said means is cold; and yielding means so constructed and arranged as to exert a force in a choke valve opening direction at all such times as the choke valve is within a range of movement from the closed to a predetermined partly open position and the throttle is open beyond theidling position.

33. The combination in an internal combustion engine carburetor having an air inlet and a-mixture outlet controlled by a throttle valve: a choke valve controlling the air inlet; means responsive to temperature and suction for controlling the choke valve; and yielding means adapted to urge the choke valve toward open position whenever said valve is at least partially closed, said yielding means being eflective when the throttle valve i open at least beyond the idling position.

GLADYS PERRY STANTON, Administratrix of the Estate of Warren F. Stanton, Deceased. V 

